New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday termed Saifuddin Soz’s suggestion for raising demand for restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir as “anti-national”, and asked the Congress to either clarify if its leader’s remark was the “official line” of the party or take action against him.
The BJP’s response came after Soz said the ruling National Conference should not confine its protest to Jantar Mantar for only the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir but also raise the demand for the reinstatement of special status under Article 370 for the erstwhile state.
The real issue for the people of J&K is internal autonomy and they should fight for the restoration of Article 370, the former Union minister said.
“Our young generation should have this in mind that we, a Muslim-majority state, acceded to India, which had a Hindu majority. Sheikh (Mohammad Abdullah) Sahab then deemed it appropriate that at that time there were eight crore Muslims in India,” he told reporters in Srinagar.
“Now there are 23-24 crore Muslims, that’s why we made the right decision to remain in India. But, our internal autonomy must definitely be restored on our own terms,” he added.
Reacting sharply, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi described Soz’s remarks as “anti-national” and asked the Congress to clarify if its leader’s view was the official stand of the party.
“How could it be that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi returns from his characteristic mysterious sojourn abroad without an anti-India statement emerging? No sooner had he set foot on India’s soil than a highly condemnable, anti-national and offensive statement came from Saifuddin Soz, a very senior leader of the Congress,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP told reporters here.
Trivedi noted that Soz remarked that J&K does not require only statehood but also restoration of Article 370.
“He went beyond and stated: ‘Our main target is sovereignty in India.’ And not only this, he also said: ‘Since we are a Muslim majority state, we will be with India on our own terms’,” the BJP leader said, and asked the Congress if it was the “official line” of the party.
“We want a categorical answer from Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge… If the Congress party does not explicitly condemn this and take action against Saifuddin Soz, it will be assumed that his statement advocating breaking the country represents the official position of the Congress,” Trivedi added.
Reacting to Soz’s remarks, another BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that the Congress wants not just statehood for J&K but also the restoration of Article 370, under which, he claimed, the Indian Constitution will not fully apply.
“The INC is not the Indian National Congress, it is the Islamabad National Congress. The Congress is not speaking only about statehood. It is actually talking about a separate identity for Jammu and Kashmir, and it is echoing Pakistan’s line,” he said.
Poonawalla alleged that Soz, who had “batted for Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani in the past”, is once again trying to play into Pakistan’s hands.
“Saifuddin Soz has proven it. He has batted for Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani in the past. He says forget statehood, we want Article 370 to be restored.
“Restoring Article 370 means the Constitution should not apply. It means the Dalits, the tribal community and the backward classes should not get reservation,” Poonawalla said.
He added that restoring Article 370 means the RTI Act and other important laws should not apply.
“It means they want to play into the hands of Pakistan, which wants ‘Pakistanparasti’ (Pakistan-worshipping) and pattharbaazi (stone-pelting), not democracy and development,” Poonawalla alleged.
The BJP spokesperson accused the Congress of repeatedly echoing Pakistan’s narrative.
“The Congress has always echoed Pakistan’s line on every issue, be it the surgical strikes or Operation Sindoor. Yet again, it is doing the same. Therefore, the Congress is not the Indian National Congress; it is the Islamabad National Congress,” Poonawalla said.
